As reported by Nine News, the sickening fake account which appeared in the mourning family’s friend request notifications featured Madison Lyden’s profile picture, the young woman who died in August after swerving out of the way of an Uber stopped in a bike lane in New York City.

She was cycling with a friend while on the “trip of a lifetime” near Central Park when she was fatally struck by a garbage truck driver in oncoming traffic.

But not only are her loved ones mourning the loss of 23-year-old Madison, two weeks ago, they had to deal with a nasty Facebook prank which saw a false account created in her name.

On receiving a friend request from the fake Madison Lyden, her twin sister Paige was at first confused. But these feelings quickly faded, then transitioned to feeling “sick to her stomach” at the thought of someone committing such a cruel prank.

Madison was killed in a bike riding accident in August. Image: Facebook.

Speaking to nine.com.au, the shaken 23-year-old said: “I came home from work to receive a friend request from Madison Lyden and they had the same profile picture as Madison."

At first Paige assumed her mother had perhaps mistakenly deleted her as a friend from Madison's real account, so had simply re-added her.

But soon enough, other friends and relatives began to contact Paige to let her know they'd received the same notification.

“I went to click on the profile and it was gone. And I was thinking, what is happening?” Paige said.

As it transpired, someone was pretending to be Madison.

“It honestly made me feel just sick to my stomach to think that someone out there went to the effort to set up an account in her name.

“And then they went to the trouble of searching her family and friends and adding them, why would you even do that? It’s so messed up. What did they hope to achieve?”

Facebook deleted the page after it was reported, but in a devastating turn of events, her real, memorialised account was also deleted by accident - meaning her photos and profile - which once created a sense of comfort for friends and family - had seemingly disappeared forever.

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Paige thought hundreds of Madison's photos had been lost forever because of the mishap. Image: Facebook.

“Madison’s account is gone, there is no trace of it and we are all so upset. Her Facebook page was a great way to remember her and now it feels like another piece of her is gone,” Paige told nine.com.au.

“Madison’s computer had about three or four years’ worth of photos but all her photos from high school are on that account and we didn’t feel the need to copy them,” Paige said.

“They were on her Facebook why would we save them. So now they’re all gone.”

While the real account has since been restored thanks to Channel Nine reporter Emily McPherson's pleas, the sequence of events has caused immeasurable stress on the family.

“I’m relieved that we have her Facebook back, but it’s disappointing that her account was deactivated without confirming with anyone from her family, and also that we needed the help of a news reporter to get it back,” Paige said.

The truck driver who collided with Madison's bike earlier this year, Felipe D Chairez, 44, has been charged with drink driving, driving while ability impaired and operating a commercial vehicle with an alcohol reading of 0.04 per cent – 0.06 per cent or less, the NYPD confirmed.

“An investigation revealed that the female was riding a bicycle north bound on Central Park West, in the bicycle lane, when a black Toyota livery vehicle pulled out into the bike lane from a stopped position,” the NYPD spokesman said in a statement in August.

“The bicyclist swerved and was struck by a private carting truck, which was also travelling north bound on Central Park West.”

Local media reported that three beer cans were found in his truck, causing him to be arrested at the scene.

According to New York Post, Chairez’s lawyer argued in court that his driving was not impaired by the alcohol, because he ate a chicken-salad sandwich before he got behind the wheel.

The Uber driver, Jose Peralta, who was stopped in the bike lane has not been charged, which Madison’s family has previously spoken of their outrage.